Five Forks Today

February 25

Sermon: "Tests of Assurance" (Part 2)

This is the fourth week that the subject for our lesson is ASSURANCE.  By assurance we mean, knowing that you are a Child of God.

            You might wonder why we would spend so much time on this subject.  Here are just a few reasons:

           

            A person who is in doubt about his standing with God is an easy mark for Satanic aims.  The person who lacks assurance is more apt to yield to temptations and discouragement.

            To move forward in life with freedom, hope and joy, you need a solid foundation and that foundation needs to be knowing that you are accepted by God.

            It is difficult to make great sacrifices for something of which you are unsure.  If you are going to be an effective servant for Jesus, you should not have any doubts about presenting the message and the method of redemption, which is … TRUSTING AND RECEIVING JESUS..

            In some ways it is very strange that we should question whether or not we are a Child of God after we receive Jesus as our Lord.

            It would be like a baby that has just exited the womb, been placed in it’s mother’s arms suddenly saying … I am not sure you are my mother.

            Or like a bride who has just walked down the aisle with her husband saying … I’m not sure you are really my husband.

            Those things sound silly and unbelievable, but yet many Christians wonder if God is really their Heavenly Father.

            One of the main messages of the book of I John is to give you the truths you need in order to know you are a Child of God.  Over the last three weeks we have given you three quarters of these truths.  This morning we are going to review those three quarters and add the final portion.  It will then be up to you to stand on these truths that God gives you in his word.

            We began by looking at …

FOUR STEPS YOU CAN TAKE THAT LEAD TO ASSURANCE

  1. Exercise your faith – through prayer and serving
  2. Trust the promises of God
  3. Study God’s word
  4. Cultivate your Christian life – act like a Christian should act

            Next came …

A FOUNDATION FOR ASSURANCE … The four corners of that foundation are …

  1. God’s forgiveness is a sure thing
  2. Your acceptance by God is a present reality
  3. Your adoption changes your future
  4. You are part of Jesus’ kingdom

            Last week we looked at five of the ten …

TESTS OF ASSURANCE … given to us in I John

            If you can answer YES to these questions, it is a good indication that you are a Child of God.  Here are the first five …

            That brings us to this week’s lesson where we will look at the final five tests of assurance found in I John.  Our proposition for this week is the same as last week.

            If you pass the tests contained in I John it is an indication that you are a true Christian.

            We will begin with …

I.       THE TEST OF PERSEVERANCE

            In First John we read …

            I JOHN 2:24-25 –  24See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you.  If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.  25And this is what he promised us – even eternal life.

            Notice the key phrase in this passage … WILL REMAIN IN YOU.

            This test could really be called – The Test of Clinging to Jesus.  John is saying that the teachings of Jesus need to remain in us.

            In the day in which we live, like many times since Jesus walked here on earth, the foundations of true faith are being tried severely.  False religions are growing in strength and number.  The standards of morality have been “watered down”.  Strong winds are blowing against the Christian faith.

            People are hoping to please God and gain eternal life by doing many different things.  Things such as …

            Still others are attacking the Christian faith by saying that there are many roads that lead to eternal life and Christianity is just one of those roads.

            John called those who taught that salvation could come other than through Jesus, Antichrists.  Listen to his word …

            I JOHN 2:18-22 – 18Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come.  This is how we know it is the last hour.  19They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us.  For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

            20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.  21I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.  22Who is the liar?  It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ.  Such a man is the antichrist – he denies the Father and the Son.

            How are you doing with this test?  Here is what Peter said about Jesus.

            ACTS 4:12 – Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

            Do you believe that?  Are you living your life based on that truth?

            There is a danger that we can grow lukewarm in our faith.  John wrote about this in the book of Revelation.   Here is what he wrote.

            REVELATION 2:4 – Yet I hold this against you:  You have forsaken your first love.

            REVELATION 3:15-16 –  15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I wish you were either one or the other!  16So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

            Are you persevering in your faith by trusting only in Jesus?  Next comes …

II.      THE TEST OF RIGHTEOUS LIVING

            Here is what John wrote about this.  First from chapter two …

            I JOHN 2:28-29 –  28And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.  29If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

            Are you doing what is right in the eyes of God?

            Let’s turn now to chapter 3.

            I JOHN 3:9-10 –  9No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.  10This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

            Anyone who does not do what is right is not a Child of God.

            The “doing what is right” referred to in these passages deals with the normal quality of a Christian’s life.  Righteous living is to the Child of God as regular as breathing.  That does not mean he does not commit a sin; it means he does not continue in sin.

            Think about it like a person who walks to work each day.  One day as he was walking down the sidewalk he stumbled.  He does not stumble every step he takes or even every day.  If he did someone would take him to a doctor or hospital.  Stumbling is the occasional occurrence … walking upright is normal for him.  He may go many weeks without stumbling and yet one day may stumble, fall and be embarrassed.

            So it is with the life of a true Christian.  He may fall into sin, but it is not his habit.  He normally obeys God and strives to live a righteous life.

            The person who habitually lives in sin proves he is not a true Believer.

            If you live a righteous life, it is a good indication that you are a true Believer.

            Let’s move now to our third test.  It’s called …

III.     THE TEST OF YOUR HEART  … IT INVOLVES YOUR ACTIONS

            John writes …

            I JOHN 3:18-22 –  18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.  19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence  20whenever our hearts condemn us.  For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

            21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God  22and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what please him.

            The Greek word translated as heart means “the thoughts and feelings of the mind” or “the seat of affections, emotions, desires, appetites, passion and sensibilities.”  Sometimes we refer to this as “our conscience”.

            John tells us that we must love others by actions and not with just words so that we might have a clear conscience.

            If our conscience condemns us it is because we are not living as we should and God knows this because he knows everything.

            On the other hand if our conscience does not condemn us then we can go before God with confidence.

            Your conscience is the candle of the Lord.  It is a light set up by the Lord to search all the secret thoughts and transactions of your inner being.

            The Bible says …

            PROVERBS 20:27 –  The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being.

            Your conscience is part of that lamp of the Lord.

            How are you doing with this test?  What is your conscience telling you?  Are you loving others as the Bible instructs you to love them?  Do you care about the physical and spiritual needs of others to the point it causes you to do something to help them, or are you living your life just for yourself and your family?  Do you even come close to being willing to lay down your life for someone else?  Are you willing to set aside your desires in order to help someone else?  Are you willing to give up your time to serve another person?

            So far we have looked at three tests this morning which can help us to know if we are a true Child of God.

            That brings us to test number four.

IV.     THE TEST OF EXPERIENCING GOD’S SPIRIT      

            John speaks about God’s Spirit living in us in both chapter 3 and chapter 4.

            I JOHN 3:24 – Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them.  And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

            I JOHN 4:13 – We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

            John Wesley, a great Christian from the past, placed a lot of importance upon the testimony of God’s Spirit and taught that that testimony could not be separated from the Fruits of the Spirit in the life of a Believer.  Therefore, a Believer should have the following things evident in his life – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Are those things evident in your life?

            Here are some more questions which will help you know whether or not you are experiencing God’s Spirit in your life.

1.         Do you become aware of God’s strength being with you in times of need?

2.         Do you experience God’s comfort in times of suffering.

3.         Do you gain victory of temptation through the help of God’s conviction.

4.         Do you receive guidance from God through his Spirit.

            That brings us to our final test.

V.      THE TEST OF BELIEF

            Listen as I read several verses from I John…

            I JOHN 3:23a – And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ.

            I JOHN 4:2 – This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.

            I JOHN 4:15 – If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.

            I JOHN 5:1a – Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.

            A key test of Christian belief lies in the confession that Jesus is the Christ … The Messiah … The Savior.  What a Christian confesses by his words and actions is essentially what he believes.   John wrote in his gospel …

            JOHN 3:36a –  Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.

            We must accept this statement at face value if we are going to be free from anxiety, fear and doubt.  Let us believe and have joy. 

            If we have faith in Jesus, we have God’s written promise that we have eternal life, that our sins are forgiven and that we are his children.

            So the test of belief comes down to this question – Do your words and actions show that you believe in Jesus?

CONCLUSION

            Let’s do a quick review of the five Tests of Assurance we looked at this morning and then I am going to offer each of you a gift.  Here are the five tests we studied this morning.

            Here is the gift I am offering you.  In order to help you remember what we have studied the last four weeks we are offering you this sheet that is suitable for framing.  It is something you can refer to when doubts come creeping into your mind about your eternal destiny.

            If you would like one, please call or email the church office.